Shepherd with sheep

The painting is one of the oldest in the Picture Gallery of the Royal Site of Carditello, chosen by Hackert for the “straw painted” East Entrance Hall.

Attributed to Giacomo Nani by Anna Maria Romano in 1992, the canvas represents a shepherd resting in the shade of a tree with his flock; acting as the backdrop to the work, a landscape bordered by tree scenes, characterized by ruins in the distance.

In the oldest inventory of the site, the work is erroneously indicated as "shepherd and dogs", while after 1799 it is correctly described in the list of works taken into exile in Palermo.

In 1817 Shepherd with sheep returned to Carditello, where it remained until the site was decommissioned; it was later taken to Caserta and recorded in the post-war inventory.